Meet Primoz Pungartnik, MSSS Global Process Architect

Meet the architect of efficiency. When Primoz Pungartnik joined AkzoNobel two months ago, he was charged with an enormous task: align and optimize our Sales and Marketing processes.

MSSS Global Process Architect

At Business Area Marketing

Works in Amsterdam

At AkzoNobel since 2019

"Global Process Ownership is about one company, one team, coming together to co-create better solutions for our customers and us all. We all need to be a part of serving our customers better."

Primoz Pungartnik aims to create seamless end-to-end customer experiences and processes. His actual title might be intimidating – it’s Architect of our Global Process Ownership Model (GPO) Market & Sell and Serve & Support (MSSS) initiative – but the work he does is vital to our success.

So what does that really long title mean in practice? His role is to make sure every step of our Sales and Marketing activities, from strategy to aftercare, is efficient and effective.

David Menko, Global Process Owner Marketing & Sales, was thrilled to welcome Primoz to the team: “Primoz brings with him almost a decade of experience in commercial process optimization in the chemical industry. And now he’s ready to inject energy, enthusiasm and effectiveness into AkzoNobel MSSS.”

Adds David: “Marketing & Sales process stabilization and optimization is key for us, not only to deliver against our 15 by 20 objectives, but also to sustain and enhance gains in AkzoNobel competitiveness and productivity in the future.”

A life-long passion

Born in Slovenia, Primoz moved to China with his family when he was in his early 20s. After completing university, he worked first in the Food Chemical industry in China, and then in the Agrochemical and Biotech industry across Europe and Asia. His specialty is restructuring, aligning and improving processes at scale within a large multinational organization. You might say his entire career has been preparing him for his new role.

“When I started at AkzoNobel two months ago, I recognized many of the challenges our commercial teams are facing,” Primoz says. “I have seen, and effectively dealt with, most of them in the past. But I also see that AkzoNobel is a unique organization, with its own culture and ways of working. Solutions that have worked elsewhere may or may not work here. GPO MSSS must ensure the solutions we develop fit in the unique context of our company.”

Strong beginnings

Primoz’s first step was meeting as many teams and colleagues as he could. “I have probably already met hundreds of people across the eight BUs and our global functions,” he laughs. “But this was crucial to the process. For GPO MSSS to be successful, we need to improve Marketing and Sales processes and enable every team to work at their best. I certainly can’t do that alone. I need every member of every team to help.”

That includes being open about what’s not working well enough and accepting new, improved processes with courage and determination. “When we agree about why we need to change, and we are clear on how we should change what we each do every day, then the change itself has a very strong chance of success,” he explains.

Primoz says he’s already seeing signs that AkzoNobel has what it takes to succeed. “This is a very action-oriented organization,” he says. “Once a decision is made, teams get to work and look forward to creating tangible benefits. They’re not afraid to try, fail if needed and learn fast in order to ultimately succeed. They’re open to – and ready for – change. And that’s the most important element to successful process improvement.”

Next steps

Primoz is now seeing how each process within MSSS works. “My goal is to understand the challenges we face in our processes from end to end, and agree with the organization about our focus for 2019 and 2020. Once we are clear on our priorities, we can start driving a step-change towards processes, systems and capabilities that serve our customers best.”

Change like this doesn’t happen overnight. “We need to identify where we can truly unlock the most value over short, medium and long term, and how those changes will depend on and deliver value to other steps in the process,” Primoz explains. “That’s very complex work. But it’s what we need to do to create and capture value at scale.”

An invitation to align

Primoz may be charged with designing processes across MSSS, but it will take a whole team to make it happen. “Collaboration will be critical,” he says. “GPO is about one company, one team, coming together to co-create better solutions for our customers and us all. We all need to be a part of serving our customers better.”